


Misuse of Work Time

by fanwit



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, M/M, Pining, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23556097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanwit/pseuds/fanwit
Summary: Arthur takes Mad-Eye along onto a little trip and they talk on the way back to the Ministry.[Role Swap: Arthur is an Auror and Mad-Eye is the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office]
Relationships: Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody/Arthur Weasley
Kudos: 1





	Misuse of Work Time

**Author's Note:**

> I mentioned wanting to write a role swap au and my beta reader said they'd be the exact same though, meaning Arthur would be like Mad-Eye and vice versa. I, being much wiser, said otherwise and wrote this to prove it. They conceded :)

"Wait, wait," Mad-Eye shoves his way to the front and Arthur looks over, "that might be cursed."

"Don't you mean misused?" Arthur jokes but does step aside to allow Mad-Eye to get a better look. "I think it's fine, Hanes isn't the sort to curse random objects in his house." Mad-Eye pulls a face and waves his wand to check the vase. Inside the vase is a few bottles of the counterfeit potions, hence the reason why Arthur was there at all.

Arthur actually mostly brought Mad-Eye just for his entertainment. There wasn't really a good reason for Mad-Eye to be here but if Bones asked him, he was claiming he heard rumours of Hanes jinxing objects to keep Aurors out.

"All clear?" Arthur asks Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye's scowling and it's clear he wants to keep checking. But Arthur knows if he lets Mad-Eye keep checking, they might be here for an hour. So Arthur waves his wand, bagging the vase, and picks it up. "Right, let's go then."

Technically they could just Apparate out and it's clear Mad-Eye expects to do that. Arthur's half-way down the hallway when Mad-Eye finally starts following. Arthur can hear his wooden leg hitting the floor and he stops to wait for him.

"So, doing anything fun tonight?" Arthur asks once Mad-Eye reaches his side. They start walking again, side-by-side.

"No, I was going to stay a bit longer, finish up paperwork," Mad-Eye grumbles, "because someone took me away from it."

Arthur ignores the pointed remark. "Doesn't sound too fun, maybe I'll keep you company."

"That's not necessary."

"No, no, safety and all that, nothing safer than being by an Auror's side."

Mad-Eye snorts at that but doesn't say anything. Arthur grips the vase a bit tighter. Maybe he could tell him about the whole divorce thing now. It'd look a bit bad if he didn't before asking if they could go to dinner sometimes.

"Something wrong about that?" Arthur asks, trying to sound casual.

"No, just, Aurors make a lot of enemies."

"We do," Arthur agrees, "but I think you're used to being attacked out of nowhere." A bit _too_ used to it, Arthur thinks, considering how often Mad-Eye checks things in his vicinity. But it's understandable, considering the amount of scars Mad-Eye's gotten. He's never revealed the details of how he lost his leg or eye but the general consensus is that it's because of his job.

"I suppose you're right."

"If it makes you feel better, Molly never got attacked."

"Never?"

"And her son's best friends with Harry Potter."

"That's some luck there."

"Sure is."

They fall in silence. Arthur holds the dining room door open for Mad-Eye and doesn't get a _thank you_ in return. They reach the front door too soon for Arthur.

"Actually..." Arthur steps outside and turns to face Mad-Eye. "Speaking of Molly."

"What about her? Anniversary coming up?" Mad-Eye smiles politely at Arthur. "You know I can't help with that."

"No, nothing like that." Arthur squirms a little. "Just, ah, a few months ago, we, we, never mind."

"What?" Mad-Eye holds out a hand for the vase. "You're going to break the vase with all that squirming."

"I'm not," Arthur protests but hands it over anyway. "Okay, you want to Apparate from here or at the edge of the ward?"

"Ward, I don't put it past Hanes to not have jinxed the ward for Apparators." Mad-Eye's frowning. "What were you going to say?"

"It doesn't matter." Arthur starts walking and Mad-Eye follows much quicker this time. "It's silly."

"It seems important to you."

"It's not."

"Is Molly all right?"

"She's fine."

"Pregnant?"

"What?" Arthur stops. "No!"

"It's a reasonable guess!"

"It really isn't!" Arthur rubs his face and looks at Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye crosses his arms the best he can with a vase. "We haven't had another kid for nearly eighteen years!"

"That's true," Mad-Eye concedes. "But it's something to do with Molly, innit?" Arthur sighs. Mad-Eye looks across the field then pulls gently at Arthur to get them walking again. Just as well, Arthur decides, it probably would be easier to break the news without looking at Mad-Eye.

"Okay, so around a year ago-"

"You said a few months ago."

"I'm telling a different story, let me finish."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Anyway, a year ago or so, Molly and I got separated."

"What?" Mad-Eye stops this time. Arthur turns to look at him. His eye's wide, not quite as wide as his glass eye but close, and he shakes his head. "You two got divorced a few months ago!?" Arthur looks away from Mad-Eye.

He manages a "yeah, we did." They don't say anything else. Mad-Eye clears his throat and continues walking. Arthur starts walking again once Mad-Eye's by his side. They walk in sync for a bit.

The field's too big. Arthur wishes Aurors were issued taller boots, he doesn't like the feel of the tall strands of grass hitting his leg. The ward's close and Arthur tries to remember where the ward started, which tree it was.

"How come you didn't tell me sooner?" Mad-Eye breaks the silence.

"Took a while to come to terms with it, I guess."

"Okay."

Was this a good time to ask him to dinner? It probably wasn't. Arthur hunches over. It never was.

"You all right?"

"Hm?" Arthur straightens up and looks at Mad-Eye.

"Your back?"

"It's fine."

For a while there, Arthur had avoided Mad-Eye because he realised his feelings might've gone beyond friendship but it was difficult. Mad-Eye was too considerate. Mad-Eye wasn't the best at reading emotions but he was well aware of that and took steps to ensure he didn't misread situations. So Mad-Eye had confronted Arthur and asked if Arthur was avoiding him.

Then they started talking more, became better friends, and Arthur could feel his marriage falling apart. It wasn't entirely his fault, mind. Molly and he had agreed on that. They just didn't have enough in common, especially with their opinions on Muggles. Sure, they agreed on the big things, Muggles were human but they didn't agree on the little things like how Muggles had fantastic ideas wizards should incorporate. Molly's disdain of Arthur's interest in Muggles had been a major factor in why Arthur chose to become an Auror instead and also a major factor in why their relationship became strained. Sometimes Arthur regretted ever being an Auror just to make his wife feel better about marrying him and Molly didn't like Arthur's long hours and the constant danger he was in. And it certainly didn't help that Arthur had fallen for someone else. He never told Molly but he had a feeling Molly had her suspicions. But was it too soon? Too soon to try for a new relationship?

Arthur opens his mouth. "Did the ward end here?"

"Looks right to me," Mad-Eye says, and well, Arthur trusts Mad-Eye. His memory's much better than Arthur's. Arthur had joked about Mad-Eye being a better Auror than him but he learned quickly to not make any jokes about that. Mad-Eye's parents were Aurors, practically everyone in his family were Aurors but him, and well, Mad-Eye had no intentions of becoming an Auror. Arthur envied him a bit, the ability to just look at all the expectations of him and ignore it to do something that made him happy.

Arthur holds out an arm for Mad-Eye to grab on. They usually did side-Apparition when they were out on cases. Mad-Eye doesn't put his hand on Arthur's arm. He looks at Arthur.

"What?" Arthur adjusts his glasses automatically. They always became askew no matter how often Arthur fixed it.

"No, just..." Mad-Eye looks down then back up. "Er, you know how to cook?"

"I do," Arthur says defensively. He used to cook with his family. His mother was always too tired to make big dinners so it was easier to do it as a family activity. But after she died, it always fell on him, instead of his brothers or his father, to make dinner for everybody. So once he married Molly, he stopped. Even now, it was hard to bring himself to make dinner for anyone more than two. "I'm alive, aren't I?"

"You could come by."

"Come by?" Arthur feels like he's missing something. He hates that feeling.

"My house, we could have dinner sometimes." Mad-Eye adjusts how he's holding the vase. "We could take turns making dinner, I'll see just how good you are at cooking."

"I, er, that sounds great!" Arthur nods. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Tonight works?" Mad-Eye asks. "I mean, you were going to wait with me anyway, we could leave together for dinner."

"Yes, absolutely," Arthur tries to not sound too excited, "fantastic, we'll have fun."

"Okay." Mad-Eye takes Arthur's arm. "Let's get back to work then."

Oh, right. They had five hours to go until dinner. The wait was going to be absolute torture. Arthur takes a deep breath.

"What's for dinner?" Arthur asks. Mad-Eye runs a hand down Arthur's arm then shrugs.

"You can make it."

Well, there was a way to pass the wait. Just think about what he could make for Mad-Eye. Maybe pasta? He should go a bit fancier than that. Arthur takes out his wand, still pondering the menu for dinner, and they Apparate away.


End file.
